Quick Book Review: Star Wars Heir to the Empire

Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn is the first book popularly referred to as the Thrawn Trilogy. I'm currently halfway through the second book, but as I was reading the first, I decided I was going to write a review (Yes, Wonderful 101 will still have to wait). I actually started to read the books as a means to help me fall asleep at night, but I've been picking it up in my spare time as well to get through it faster.

I must say that as I read through the book, I felt very much like it belonged to the Star Wars Universe. Certain elements that are common to all of movies are found here, including an intro aboard a spacecraft. The charm of the droids and aliens, as well as the main cast is unchanged. Exploration of Force is welcomed here as there are a few things that might feel out of place, but do have a point of reference appear. The only thing truly missing to make this a complete Star Wars experience was a lightsaber duel.

I appreciated some loose ends from Return of the Jedi being addressed such as the challenge of establishing the New Republic and maintaining it. Also seeing Luke concerned with the task of rebuilding the Jedi order is something expected as well as well executed. However, I found Kenobi's exit to be poorly done. While it helps in the end to see how much influence he had over Luke, the method it was done and the suddenness left a lot to be answered for.

As mentioned before, the old cast felt perfectly right. The words and actions coming out of Luke, Leia, and Han, as well as Lando, C3PO, and R2D2 did not betray what we've come to expect from the characters. The introduction of new characters like Karrde, Mara Jade, and Grand Admiral Thrawn were also done with expertise. The Dark Jedi C'baoth and his idea of real power as well as his deal with Thrawn brought in some interesting dialogue. The only character I really felt dissatisfied with was Captain Pellaeon. His introduction in the very start was strong but as soon as Thrawn was introduced, every strength Pellaeon could be perceived to have had was passed to the Grand Admiral. As a result we were given a fairly incompetent and second-guessing Captain who served the purpose of having Thrawn explain his actions and thoughts.

There were a few things that took me a while to get used to, the first being the concept of Dark Jedi. It wasn't until I realized that the term "Sith" doesn't really exist in the original trilogy like it does in the prequels. As a result it fits that Dark Jedi are the those who use the Dark Side. The concept of using the Force to communicate was also weird, but that's because it was only really used in Empire Strikes Back unless you count the ghosts in Return of the Jedi, though even in Empire Strikes Back it was always verbal. The last one that took a while to grasp was the idea of using the force to command troops effectively without their awareness. That's probably the only one I would toss out. The closest otherwise would be the ysalamari, but it also provides a nice balance to keep the Jedi in check as well as see their dependence on it.

Thrawn is certainly a master tactician in here and does a good job of being a formidable foe to the New Republic. Zahn also tends to point out the differences between him and Darth Vader, however, I feel like his is mostly like the Emperor with his tactical mind, so the question about how Endor would have been if he was in charge does not bear so much of an effect. Nonetheless, it was certainly an exciting and interesting book to read and good for any Star Wars fan of the Original Trilogy.